A Tipping Point in Dana Point Politics

Dana Point voters’ approval of Measure H over Measure I (by a huge 18% margin) is a watershed moment in recent city politics. The significance of this vote reaches beyond the town center plan.

It is a loud “no confidence” vote in the majority city council members: Olvera, Viczorek, Tomlinson and Muller. Dana Point voters also issued a firm rejection of the misguided practices of the city manager and the city attorney who appeared to support Measure I over the wishes of the residents they serve.

The struggle between Measure H and Measure I, as well as the Strandsgate issue, expose how far out of sync the council majority and staff leadership are with Dana Point residents.

Trust in our local government has been severely damaged.

Many concerned citizens have been writing letters, participating in public events, speaking at council meetings, and taking legal action (with the Surfrider Foundation) against the city for years now. That is what responsible citizens do.

Largely, those citizens’ efforts have met with resistance, obstruction, friction and contempt from city leaders.

This is what motivated voters to put Measure H on the ballot in the first place. The fact that the council and staff tried to defeat citizens’ Measure H was only a small symbol of that contempt. There were more.

The level of discontent with our current council majority and the top leadership on the city staff has finally reached a tipping point. Now, Dana Point has voted loud and clear.

Measure H wins, but more importantly, Dana Point wins.

Dana Pointers will not tolerate collusion between developers and city leaders, political and economic bullying of constituents, misinformation, intimidation or the unbridled disrespect shown by some council members for their own voters.

Dana Point has reason to be proud of the success of Measure H. Residents banded together, like the neighbors we are, out of affection for the community we treasure.

With this resounding win, residents rejected the heavy handed politics of developer money. We voted — by a large margin — to bond with our neighbors to demand better governance.

13 thoughts on “A Tipping Point in Dana Point Politics”

  1. I would like to participate to re build our council with people we can have trust in and will be representing the property owners in our city and not the developers.

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  2. We the citizens – need to take back our city – we need a responsive and responsive city council – a council who REPRESENTS we the citizens. THANK You to the movers and drivers of measure H = we need to build this movement – communication and community

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  3. Thank you! Your efforts are greatly appreciated. Please keep me informed about the ongoing plans to replace the council. Kay Strate

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  4. We’ve had this problem more than once in our history. Past councils have been in the pockets of developers and it seems that each subsequent council ends up the same way.
    Where are OUR representatives!

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  5. Where’s that picture of the son of one of the council members who was on the fire truck flipping us off? That picture speaks for itself as to how some of the current council, city manager, attorney & developers treats its citizens in my opinion.

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  6. AMEN! Out of control for a long time! As a 37 year resident, you have my full support!!! Your passion is contagious and commendable! Thank you!

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  7. If you aren’t in there group you are nothing. They use OCSD and the code enforcement to bully the residents they don’t like. While helping them self to any and all benefits they can. Including covering up there criminal actions.

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  8. This is a joke. Stop lusting for control. Due to this “save dana point” propaganda the residents of DP don’t even understand what they voted for. Thanks.

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  9. Council members Olvera, Viczorek, Tomlinson and Muller all need to go as well as City Manager Chotkevys and City Attorney Munoz. Collectively these 6 individuals have created what they think is their own little empire and it has to stop. Can someone please explain to me why we are compensating Chotkevys over $100,000 per year MORE than what the City Manager of Newport Beach makes!!!

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